More Wine, Less Whine

Mary and I toured Temecula wine country for our anniversary this weekend, and our guide kept talking about the number of new wineries that were being planned, and planted, even in this economy. I should have written down the precise numbers, but I believe she said there were 23 wineries now going through the site permit process, with a goal of establishing a total of 100 new wineries in the next ten years. One of the small farms was even the result of a luxury home distress sale; the new family took the five acre estate and planted grapes all along the hillsides. When we were there, a live band was playing out on the courtyard and the tasting room was awash in guests. Other wineries featured restaurants, spas, gift shops, and a whole calendar full of live music events.

I asked our tour guide, "do you ever have any squabbles between vineyard owners as to who gets more busses, more tourists?"

"No," she said. "We work together."

Simple stuff, really. I think it's known as "a rising tide lifts all boats." Here's to hoping this seaside wisdom catches on--here and generally.

I was telling Mary "you know, in business, it's really not that difficult to offer reasonably good service. If you return your emails, smile at the customers, and make a reasonable effort to provide for their needs, you will be doing better than 99% of the competition."



The simple fact is that most teenagers are not taught to be polite. They are certainly not taught to smile or say hello. Hospitality is not part of our nature, generally. Cool, aloof shyness is more likely to be the norm, and you have to train that reserve out of new employees if you mean to make customers happy. In Temecula,when we approached the tasting rooms--even if they were crowded--the stewards always smiled and were anxious to give you the whole history of their vineyard. One young fellow was the son of a Basque shepherd and he gave us a source for Suffolk sheep. Another walked us through the de-steming and fermentation room and the barrel room--giving us the chemistry of wine making in about fifteen friendly minutes. The girl at Calloway took our picture and asked us all about apple country. I didn't hear one Temecula vineyard owner ragging on their competition, or making sweeping pronouncements about what was, and was not, "Temecula." No one claimed any special expertise for being there longer. No one growled, under their breath, "THEY bring in grapes from outside of the valley."

Granted, they turn their crop into something that can be sold for a premium twelve months a year, and success breeds good breeding. Grinding poverty tends to bring out the desperate in all of us. Oak Glen farmers, and agritourism operators in general, need to cooperatively develop business plans that do more than just pay the bills. We're not saffron-robed ascetics up here, casting wild-flower seed to keep aging hippies happy on their mountain sojourn. We have families, property taxes, compliance costs--and we need to turn a profit!

Could it be that Blackie Wilshire was on to something years ago, when he said, during Prohibition, "well, you could sell a lug of apples for a quarter or a pint of Apple Brandy for $5."

Here's to hoping Oak Glen comes up with more five dollar ideas.